Hearing stories from passionate, active social enterprisers can be enriching and informative enough, but imagine a tour to see them in action.
That’s the opportunity a group of global delegates has beginning Sept. 28 in Vancouver, where they will first hear from representatives of some of the city’s Downtown Eastside social enterprises and then visit many of those same businesses.
Following an evening reception hosted by the British Council and British Consulate, the group from the U.K., Australia and Canada, will board a bus Sunday morning to head for Osoyoos in the Okanagan Valley.
There they will get to meet Osoyoos First Nations chief, tour a local social enterprise winery, Nk’mip Cellars, and gain an understanding of the aboriginal perspective on social enterprise.
Stops will also be made at the social enterprises and/or social-mission businesses of various other communities along the journey, including Kelowna and Revelstoke.
Following a leisurely stint at the renowned Banff, the group will head for their final destination: the city hosting this year’s Social Enterprise World Forum Oct. 2-4 — Calgary, Alberta.
“I’m really keen to experience the scale and breadth of social enterprise activity in Canada and the contributing factors to its development and success,” says Matt Pfahlert, who is joining the tour from the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship. “ This is of real interest given that while social enterprises are growing in Australia, the sector is still in its infancy.
“I see the trip as a great opportunity to immerse myself in the social enterprise movement in Canada, learn from the experience of others, as well as to meet and network with inspiring projects and people.”
Matt adds he hopes to take away an understanding of the fundamental enablers for social enterprise in Canada.
Enterprising Non-profits BC program co-ordinator Kimberly Buksa, who is organizing the tour and will be acting as tour guide, is also keen about the unique learning opportunity this experience affords – for both international and Canadian representatives.
Having travelled to Scotland twice to learn more about its social enterprise sector, she’s excited to now turn the tables.
“This is another great opportunity to build on that relationship and spend some more time learning what each of us does in our different communities,” she says.
Kimberly adds she’s especially eager to engage in in-depth conversations around what’s shaping up for integrating a social component into the procurement activities for next year’s Commonwealth Games to be hosted in Glasgow, the home base of Community Enterprise in Scotland. She anticipates a great exchange of ideas and knowledge around this, given B.C.’s experience hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics and as Toronto prepares to hold the Pan American/Parapan American Games in 2015.
Tour guests include government representatives Peter Holbrook, the CEO of Social Enterprise UK; Gerry Higgins, the CEO of Community Enterprise in Scotland; practitioners from employment and housing social enterprises and several others.
Michelle Strutzenberger writes for Axiom News.
This story originally appeared on ENP Canada’s website.
ENP Canada has partnered with Axiom News to explore the Canadian social enterprise movement one story at a time. Each story will provide snapshots and profiles of local social enterprises and the emerging, supportive environment. This story is one of hundreds we will be publishing. Check in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the latest news.
Axiom News is also a SEWF 2013 media partner.
More About SEWF
The Trico Charitable Foundation was honoured to host SEWF 2013. It made history in a number of ways – it was a first for Canada and attracted a record number of speakers and attendees (1,000 individuals from more than 30 countries and over 100 speakers from 20 countries) – but we are most proud of the quality of the discussions on Skills Building, Social Finance, Indigenous Social Enterprise, Collaboration, Policy and Research, and Social Innovation.
We would like to thank the following partners for making SEWF 2013 possible:
Organizing Partners:
- Social Enterprise Council of Canada
- MaRS Centre for Impact Investing
- Social Innovation Generation (SiG)
- The Canadian Community Economic Development Network
Lead Sponsors:
- Suncor
- Vancity
- Government of Canada
- Canadian Youth Business Foundation (now Futurepreneur)
- Social Change Rewards
Presenting Partners:
Supporting Partners:
Friends of SEWF:
Media Partners:
Each year SEWF gives a different host country an incredible opportunity to celebrate and nurture its own social enterprise movement. The inaugural SEWF met in Edinburgh, Scotland. Since then it has been to Melbourne, Australia; San Francisco, U.S.A; Johannesburg, Africa; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Learn more about SEWF’s history here.
SEWF 2014 will be held in Seoul, Korea from October 12-16. Hosted by the Work Together Foundation, this significant international gathering has an ambitious agenda: “Social Change through Social Enterprise”. Learn more here.
